{"id":13324,"date":"2014-08-27T15:00:53","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=13324"},"modified":"2014-08-27T15:00:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T15:00:53","slug":"debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/08\/27\/debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Debts mount, Bronson Pinchot can’t be found"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVID FALCHEK<\/strong>
\n Times-Shamrock Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

When TV actor Bronson Pinchot began purchasing and restoring homes in the tiny Susquehanna County hamlet of Harford a decade ago, many thought he\u2019d bring a big Hollywood bank account and some attention.<\/p>\n

Instead, the man famous for playing Balki Bartokomous for eight seasons on the ABC sitcom \u201cPerfect Strangers\u201d has left a trail of bad debts, property a wrought-iron fence away from being seized by creditors, and late sewer bills for multiple properties.<\/p>\n

Multiple cases that popped up in the Susquehanna Court of Common Pleas suggest he\u2019s become a perfect stranger to creditors who have been unable to find him to personally serve him summonses and citations about legal actions to collect those debts. Several of those legal actions have been withdrawn. While the reasons legal actions and collections are withdrawn are rarely explained in court documents, Pinchot said he had taken care of the debts and is working with banks to save the four historic homes he restored. He said he\u2019s not leaving Harford.<\/p>\n

Pinchot responded to emailed questions from the newspaper, depicted himself as the victim of gossip in the small hamlet, a visionary who lost his way financially and still in love with the idyllic 19th century town.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t graze the tip of iceberg of what the townspeople may wish to quote from the great mythology created over the back fences of Harford,\u201d Pinchot said, adding that the cancellation of his successful DIY Network show, \u201cThe Bronson Pinchot Project,\u201d caught him off guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two skills: I can make old houses beautiful and I can make people laugh. The two skills are really one: I make sad people happy and sad structures come to life,\u201d he said. \u201cOther than that, I\u2019m a waste of space. Well, I\u2019m a dedicated son and brother but I have no head for businesses or the sort of diplomacy that might have created a cheerleading squad in a tiny town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those sad structures painstakingly restored are at risk of being confiscated by the bank that lent him nearly $200,000. First National Bank of Pennsylvania, which inherited much of the Pinchot debt in its 2010 acquisition of Community Bank & Trust, tried in vain to serve Pinchot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is believed and therefore averred that Pinchot is concealing his whereabouts,\u201d bank attorney James T. Shoemaker, a Kingston attorney representing the bank, told the Susquehanna County Court on Aug. 11 as it sought alternative means of service to collect $165,629 of principal and costs on three separate loans.<\/p>\n

One of the alternative means of service includes publication of a confession of judgment in the newspaper, a sign that the bank plans to seize assets, including real estate, in Pinchot\u2019s name to satisfy the debt. Typically, when borrowers close on an commercial loan, they will sign a confession of judgment agreeing to the measure in the event of a default, said William Hoffmeyer, a Pennsylvania Bar Association real estate law expert based in York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bank has shown the court they\u2019ve done everything they could to find him and now hope that he, or someone who knows him, will see this in the paper and say \u2018hey, these people are trying to reach you,\u2019\u201d Hoffmeyer said. \u201cIf he doesn\u2019t respond within 20 days with an answer or objection, the bank can seek a judgment, gain access to the property, levy and post all assets, and then sell them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The confessions of judgment against Pinchot ran in the legal notices section of the Times-Tribune Aug. 18.
\nHinting at some financial strain, Pinchot said he is doing his best to resolve the matter and will not abandon the properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been doing everything in my power to work out the problem,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI am not too proud to say that my actual power is not very great at this moment, though my willpower is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinchot refused to say where he is, or has been, claiming it\u2019s not pertinent. He denied avoiding service of summons, saying his attorneys in Pennsylvania respond to legal matters. But paperwork in cases filed against Pinchot show those attorneys have not been entering appearances on Pinchot\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

The bank is not the first creditor to find it difficult to locate the celebrity. Harford Twp. turned to its solicitor, Andrew Hailstone of Scranton, to collect unpaid balances on Pinchot\u2019s property in a lien action involving amounts of $389.51 and $740.95 on each of three properties. Susquehanna County Sheriff Lance R. Benedict was also unable to locate Pinchot. In February, he gave up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hereby certify and return that after diligent search and reasonable inquiry, a Bronson Pinchot could not be found in this bailiwick,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n

The following month the action was withdrawn. Doug Phelps, a township supervisor, said Pinchot paid his past due balances through an attorney.<\/p>\n

Phelps said Pinchot is \u201cnot around much.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Mountain Laurel, New Jersey, debt collection law firm, Apothaker & Associates, sued Pinchot on behalf of American Express April 30, 2010 for $55,790. The firm also was unable to serve Pinchot and withdrew the matter after two years of inactivity on the case in August 2012, at the request of the prothonotary, a common practice to clear inactive cases. A person reached at Apothaker who identified himself as a manager declined to discuss it, but Pinchot said he resolved the issue with American Express \u201cto a mutually satisfactory conclusion\u201d in March of 2013.<\/p>\n

A review of civil matters involving Pinchot also shows federal tax liens against him in the amount of $49,285 for a period ending Dec. 31, 2005, and a second for $10,462 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2013, for lack of payment of income taxes.<\/p>\n

Pinchot said he resolved all issues with the IRS. The income tax issues were inadvertent: a business manager had partially liquidated a retirement account of Pinchot\u2019s and failed to pay the taxes on the withdrawals.<\/p>\n

He connected his problems today with his expectation that the \u201cBronson Pinchot Project\u201d TV show would be renewed. The show quickly developed a fan base and ratings were strong. Pinchot, thinking he was looking at a multiyear run on a successful television show for the first time in two decades, \u201cmade decisions based on a presumed strength,\u201d he said. The show was cancelled not for lack of audience, but for lack of home-improvement advertisers, who found his work too specialized, or \u201ctoo beautiful,\u201d as he put it. The show will begin airing in reruns starting Sept. 4 at 4:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Despite being the subject of gossip from some residents, he said, he made \u201cbone-deep\u201d friendships in the area and will keep a presence in Harford. He\u2019s looking for a financial partner or backer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy nickname in Pennsylvania is \u2018B,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cYou know what\u2019s been happening to the bees.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2012 interview with Sam Roberts, producer of an online podcast, Pinchot discussed his show and his restoration work in Harford. In the interview, Pinchot touted himself as a compulsive \u201choarder of houses\u201d who each day may live in a different Harford house, a practice he called \u201cself trick-or-treating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago, my agent and my mother said, \u2018If you don\u2019t get these albatrosses off from around your neck you will end up drowning in houses,\u201d he told Roberts. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, can you hand me that timber?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVID FALCHEK Times-Shamrock Writer When TV actor Bronson Pinchot began purchasing and restoring homes in the tiny Susquehanna County hamlet of Harford a decade ago,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nDebts mount, Bronson Pinchot can't be found - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/08\/27\/debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Debts mount, Bronson Pinchot can't be found - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAVID FALCHEK Times-Shamrock Writer When TV actor Bronson Pinchot began purchasing and restoring homes in the tiny Susquehanna County hamlet of Harford a decade ago,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/08\/27\/debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-27T15:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/08\/27\/debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/08\/27\/debts-mount-bronson-pinchot-cant-be-found\/\",\"name\":\"Debts mount, Bronson Pinchot can't be found - 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